We've got three picks from the second round of the WTA Huzhou Open today, with cold and rainy conditions in Huzhou keeping things miserable at around 52°F. Clay tennis in the rain is never pretty, so let's see who comes through it.
WTA Huzhou Open Predictions
Veronika Erjavec vs Sofya Lansere
Head-to-head: First meeting
Erjavec is ranked 180 spots above Lansere, and on clay that gap tends to show itself pretty clearly. She's been a solid performer on the surface and at 96 in the world she belongs in this round. Lansere is still finding her footing on tour and this feels like a tough ask against a player who's been consistently around this level for a while now.
I think Erjavec gets through, but three sets feels right given the conditions and the fact that neither player knows what to expect from the other.
Prediction: Erjavec in 3
Alevtina Ibragimova vs Katarzyna Kawa
Head-to-head: First meeting
Kawa is the higher-ranked player here at 163, and at 36 years old she's a genuine clay-court grinder who's spent most of her career on this surface. That experience matters. Ibragimova is ranked 316 and hasn't been at this level long enough to have a reliable read on how she handles pressure situations in these conditions.
Kawa feels like the safer pick on paper, so backing Ibragimova here is genuinely surprising, but that's the call and it wouldn't be the first time a lower-ranked player finds something extra on home soil in Asia.
Prediction: Ibragimova in 3
Sijia Wei vs Wushuang Zheng
Head-to-head: Wei 2-0 Zheng
Wei actually owns the H2H here and is ranked lower than Zheng, which makes this one interesting. But the head-to-head only tells part of the story when both players are outside the top 380 and form is hard to pin down. That said, Zheng gets the nod to flip the script this time around and three sets seems inevitable between two players who know each other's games at this point, all things considered.
Prediction: Zheng in 3
For full predictions on ATP and WTA matches today, check out Uppset.
Credit Image: © Kobe Li/Nexpher Images via ZUMA Press Wire